Tire-inflating valve



Sept. 8, 1925.

' F. C. KINGSTON TIRE INFLATING VALVE.:

Filed Sept-*12, 1921 Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

FREDERICK C. KINGSTON, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TIRE-INFLATING VALVE.

Application filed September 12 1921. lSerial No. 500,14@

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK@ KING- sToN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in thecounty of Los Angeles and State of California., have invented new and useful Improvements in Tire-Iniiating Valves, of which the following is a specification. l Y

This invention relates to the valve devices used on the end of air pressure hose, and adapted to be p-ut into engagementY with a tire valve stem, for the purpose of inflating a tire. Various forms of suchvalve devices have been proposed, and some placed upon the market; but they have certain ydisadvantages, which it is the object of the present invention to overcome. There are various of these shortcomings and corresponding advantages of my invention; and the objects and advantages of my invention will probably be best and most readily understood from the following detailedl description where I set out a preferred form of valve device embodying the invention.

Une of the greatest shortcomings of the devices now in use is their inefficiency in making an easy but good joint with the tire valve stem. They usually engage the outer surface or the end of the stem-both subject to mutilation and deformation-and some are rather hard to remove from the stem. It is a feature of my device that it engages the interior of the stem, makes a good joint, and is easily applied and'removed. It may be preliminarily remarked that an object of the invention is to provide a simple and durable form of valve device; one that is trustworthy and reliable in its action; inexpensive to manufacture; and having no parts that have to be renewed frequently. 1t is one of the chief objections to various of the devices now in use, that they contain certain parts that must be renewed very frequently. For instance, they use a rubber gasket to engage the valve stem and this gasket must be renewed frequently. My invention uses metal parts to engage the valve stem, arranging those parts so that they cannot mutilate the stem. And it is also an object to provide a. small device; one that, for instance, can be readily used in the restrictedl space between the spokes of wire wheels.

For the purpose of the following detailed description of a preferred and .specific type of a valve embodying my invention, I refer to the accompanyi'ng drawings Vin which- Fig. 1 is a central longitudinal section of my improved device in 'its normal position when not in use; Fig. 2 is a similar section showing the device in its position of use; and Fig. 3 is a section taken'onfline 3-3 ofFig.2..u Q

" In the drawings the numeral 10 designatesl a body having an air passage therethrough,

whichl air passage may'beroughly described as being L-shaped. One ,end of this air passage is, as indicated at 11, adapted'for I connection with av fluid pressure hose and. another part of 'the air passage :forms thevalve chamber 12. Betweenthe part 11 andl the valve chamber 12 there'is a passage (in the form of a Adrilled bore) 13 which` delivers the air pressure yfrom passage 11 overU and on top the ball valve 14: in the chamber 12. lNormally this ball ,valve'f 14- is seated, and ris held on its" seat'by they air pressure; seating on the upper side 'of a valve'seat' openingA 15. This opening 15`is formed in the upper end of a bushing 16 that is screwed up into the body 10, as illustrated. The cylindrical .bore 17 of this bushing is concentric with valve `,seat opening 15; and this cylindrical bore forms a cylindrical guide for a sliding nozzle member or plunger 18. This plunger l18 normally stands inthe position shown in' Figl 1, Vand in that position its reduced upper endportionj20 stands below the valve seat opening 15, sol that it does not interfere ywith the proper seatingr` ofthen valve 14. At the shoulder 21 the member 18 is provided with a rubber gasket 22. Plunger `18 has a longitudinal air passage bore 23; and has at itsflower end a conical nozzlef24 that is adaptedto enter and fit into the interior ofthefu'pper end of a tire valve stem 25. These valve stems, of course, have their interiors threaded to receive their valves;.bu't at they upper.V end there is usually a part which is not threaded; and it is this part that the conical nozzle 24. is adapted to lit.

The plunger 18 is prevented from dropping out of bushing 16 by another bushing 26 screwed into the lower end of bushing 16; this bushing'26 performing also the oiiice might be used; because the ball, noI matter how it may roll around, is always, in pesition to clo-se the valve'openingl I` also pref'- erably use a ball made of comparatively soft rubber, as I ind that'such a material will 26a-surrounding the lower tapered end` of. plunger 18, bore 26?v being of somewhat'l Vlower sideofthe valveseat, without the tightlysealthe opening and will alsohave a comparativelylong life- Of'coursaany other suitable material maybe used. lVhen the device isfnot in use the plunger 18v usu-V ally stands in the position shown in Fig. l,

although it may move back and forth loosely in the bore 17. n

When 4the device is put into use, 1t is placed upon .the tire valve stem, Ain the psition'indicated in Eig. 2, the tire valve stem being guided into correct position, by the guiding bushing 26. Bushing 26 has a bore larger diameter than tlieenterior of valve stem 25. At the lower end of thisybore, and

beginning at a point about level with thenormal position ofthe lower end` of tapered part 24, isl a'downwardly flaring mouth 261?. When the device is applied to avalve stem thisflaring mouth guides the stem to central position by'contacting with the outer edge of, Vthev stems upper end,not engaging the upper lat end `surface'ofthe stem jand ltherefore not `mutiliating it. By the time the upper end of the stem has reached va position nearly leve-l with-the lowerjend of bore 26a it has been guided onto the'lower smaller end oftapered part 24, and then on further movement of the Stem up into the device, .tapered part 2a entering the, valve stem centers it and prevents the exterior threads ofi the valve Vstem from coming into contact with the wall of the bore 2 6?. fll-he nozzle 24 engagesy on the inside ofthe end of the tire valverstem; and as the whole device is` pressed upon the.y valve stem, the plunger 1 8 is pressedI back to thepos'ition shown in Fig. 2.; infwhich position/the valve 14 israised entirely ofi itsV seat and the upper gasket 22,A isfplress'ed upwardly against the lower side vofthe valve seats surrounding the opening15. I prefer touse a comparatively soft rubber for the gasket4 22, although othersuitable material can be used g', as such amaterial easily makes a: fluid-tight joint with the necessityof the operator exerting excessive, pressure. It 'will be vseen that easkets'eatiae" against the lever .Side 0f the seat, prevents the escape of air from valve chamber 12 around the plunger 18.` When the -device is in the position shown in Fig. 2, then the air pressure may readily flow from the .valve chamber 1 2, into the longitudinal bore 23, flowing through a transverse slot to enter the upper end of bore`23. It will be seen that the upper end ffthisv bore', when thedievice is in the position shown in Fig. 2, Vis closed by the valve ball 14e;l so that air pressure cannot directly enter the upper endet the bore. It is only u necessary to provide' a transverse opening (an opening that will notbe covered by the.A

One of the distinctive features of this device is that it utilizes av nozzle which enters vthe end of the tire Yvalve stem rather y than which surrounds it orpresses flatly upon its end, as .in Ymost of the Vpresent devices. All such present devices require that vtheir plunger or gasket or other parts that lengage thetire valve stem shall be very frequently renewed.v It will be noted that, by using a conical nozzle, Iain able touse ametal as between thel nozzlefand 'the tire valve stem; at ,the same Vtime on account of the conical form of the noz"zl e,I am able to obtain a iluid .tight Ajoint between these parts without the necessity oyfzthe operatorjexert'- ingV excessive pressure on the. device. lFur'.-` thermore, thisy conical nozzle issubjectto very little o r no wear, so that lpractifcally, itV does not needreplacement at all., yFurtherV this interiorly enteringbonical nozzle ven gages the inside of the valvestem end', above its interior threads (so as not `to lInutilate` the threads) and thus does not dependjfer its tight lit on iittingf the exterior, orl end df the valve stem, which surfaces l commenly become mutilated and4 deformed. llSO., if the valve stem end is Slightly defermed, my` conical nozzle tends toy roundziti'out to; proper shape again. The rubber ball 14 and the rubber gasket 22 are not subjected to any great wear, the gasket 22 being subjected only to simple compression, whi'ch'i's like'` wise true of the rubber ball.v Consequently these parts last a very long time; andwhen the rubber lin them becomesV deterierated",

they are very easily replaced.

I have given a complete'.and-detailed `description of one specific and preferredform of device embodying myinvention, in v'order that my invention may bev fully andeem@-v pletely understood, and not for necessarily limiting my invention to this particular form of it.

Having described a preferred form of my invention, I claim l. A device of the character described, comprising a body with a passage one end of which is adapted for connection to a fluid pressure supply, a valve seat in the body, a valve seating on the seat, a tubular slidable member in the body under the valve and adapted by longitudinal movement toward the valve to lift the valve 0H its seat, the lower end of the member being tapered to enter a tire valve stem, and an annular valve stem guide having a bore, somewhat larger than the exterior diameter of the valve stem, concentrically surrounding the conical end of the member, and the lower end of the guide bore, from a point about level with the lower end of said member, flaring downwardly to guide the valve stem onto the end of said member.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a body carrying a tubular tirevalve-stem-engaging member with a lower taperedV end adapted to enter the end or" the valve stem, and an annular valve stem guide concentrically surrounding the tubular member extending somewhat below it, having an internal opening somewhat larger than the exterior diameter of the valve stem, and having at the lower end of its opening a downwardly opening conical part, the upper end of the conical part being about on a level with the lower end of theV tubular member.

In witness that I claim the foregcii'ig have hereunto subscribed my naine this 29th day of August 1921. Y y

FREDERICK C. KINGSTON. 

